[3] Being "R-like" is an elusive and ambiguous concept phonetically and the same sounds that function as rhotics in some systems may pattern with fricatives, semivowels or even stops in others.
The IPA has a full set of different symbols which can be used whenever more phonetic precision is required: an r rotated 180° [ɹ] for the alveolar approximant, a small capital R [ʀ] for the uvular trill, and a flipped small capital R [ʁ] for the voiced uvular fricative or approximant.
The fact that the sounds conventionally classified as "rhotics" vary greatly in both place and manner in terms of articulation, and also in their acoustic characteristics, has led several linguists to investigate what, if anything, they have in common that justifies grouping them together.
[12] In citation forms, /r/ in the syllable coda is pronounced as a pharyngealized pre-velar bunched approximant [ɰ̟ˤ] (known in Dutch as the Gooise r) that is acoustically similar to [ɻ]: [kɛ̝ɰ̟ˤk, ˈkilömeitəɰ̟ˤ, mïə̯ɰ̟ˤ] etc.
Other realizations (alveolar taps and voiced uvular fricatives) are also possible, depending on the region and individual speaker, so that mier may be also pronounced [mïə̯ɾ] or [mïə̯ʁ]ⓘ.
[13] The rhotic consonant is dropped or vocalized under similar conditions in other Germanic languages, notably German, Danish, western Norwegian and southern Swedish (both because of Danish influence), rendering the English accents that native speakers of these languages speak with as non-rhotic as well.
In the traditional standard pronunciation, this happens only in the unstressed ending -er and after long vowels: for example besser [ˈbɛsɐ], sehr [zeːɐ̯].
In common speech the vocalization is usual after short vowels as well, and additional contractions may occur: for example Dorn [dɔɐ̯n] ~ [dɔːn], hart [haɐ̯t] ~ [haːt].
That happens also in Leonese in which the infinitive form is "dare" [ˈdare], and both the /r/ and the vowel are dropped (da-yos, not *dáre-yos).
In some Catalan dialects, word-final /r/ is lost in coda position not only in suffixes of nouns and adjectives denoting the masculine singular and plural (written as -r, -rs) but also in the "-ar, -er and -ir" suffixes of infinitives: forner [furˈne] "(male) baker", forners [furˈnes], fer [ˈfe] "to do", lluir [ʎuˈi] "to shine, to look good".
However, rhotics are "recovered" when followed by the feminine suffix -a [ə], and when infinitives have single or multiple enclitic pronouns (notice the two rhotics are neutralized in the coda, with a flap [ɾ] occurring between vowels, and a trill [r] elsewhere); e.g. fornera [furˈneɾə] "(female) baker", fer-lo [ˈferɫu] "to do it (masc.
In many dialects of Malay, such as those of Kedah, Kelantan-Pattani and Terengganu, onset /r/ is usually realized as a velar fricative [ɣ].
[citation needed] In some parts of Turkey, like Kastamonu, the syllable-final /r/ is almost never pronounced: gidiya instead of gidiyor ("she/he is going") and gide instead of gider ("she/he goes").
Among the Turkic languages, Uyghur displays more or less the same feature, as syllable-final /r/ is dropped, and the preceding vowel is lengthened: Uyghurlar [ʔʊɪˈʁʊːlaː] 'Uyghurs'.
The /r/ may, however, sometimes be pronounced in unusually "careful" or "pedantic" speech; in such cases, it is often mistakenly inserted after long vowels even when there is no phonemic /r/.
Similarly in Yaqui, an indigenous language of northern Mexico, intervocalic or syllable-final /r/ is often dropped with lengthening of the previous vowel: pariseo becomes [paːˈseo], sewaro becomes [sewajo].
[17] Noftz (2017) reports finding an example of a rhotic alveolar fricative in Lacid while he was doing phonological research at Payap University, in Thailand, in 2015.
[18] Syllable-final /r/ is lost in many varieties of Rif Berber and is lengthened before /a/ to [aː], and /i/ and /u/ become diphthongs like in English or German.